The Ngagah tradition is one of the unique traditions in Bali. This tradition is usually carried out before the Ngaben ceremony, both individual Ngaben and mass Ngaben. Ngagah is done for bodies that have been buried before the Ngaben ceremony is carried out.
During the Ngagah procession, the people of Banjar Adat work together to dig up the graves whose bodies will be held at the Ngaben ceremony. A unique view can be found during this Ngagah procession.
Usually, based on deliberation between elders and residents of Banjar Adat, the Ngagah procession is carried out before the day of the Ngaben Ceremony. This is so that the people of Banjar Adat can focus more on carrying out the Ngaben Ceremony and shorten the implementation time.
Because it is carried out before the day of the Ngaben Ceremony, in the Ngagah procession, the corpse will be burned after being lifted from the grave. This is because of purely health factors, in order to avoid the spread of disease or bacteria originating from bodies that have been buried for a long time.
1. Grave excavation procession carried out in mutual cooperation
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 2. The people of Banjar Adat work together to lift the bodies from the graves
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 3. The people of Banjar Adat work together to move the bodies to the cremation site
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 4. Some of the bodies that have been placed in the kiln
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 5. One of the skull bones of the corpse to be burned
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 6. After the removal of the body, a ceremony is carried out using black duck facilities before the grave is buried again
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 7. If all the bodies have been removed from the grave, then proceed with the burning of the corpse
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 8. Officers who burn corpses, in Bali are often called ‘corpse cooks’
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 9. After the burning is complete, proceed with collecting the bones from the combustion
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 10. These bones are shaped like a human shape which is then wrapped in gauze
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana 11. Adventure, a place to put the bones that have been wrapped in gauze in the previous procession
IDNTimes.com/Ari Budiadnyana After all the bones are placed on the adventure, then this adventure is closed. In the evening, guarding is carried out by the family and residents of the traditional banjar in turn, so that unwanted things do not happen. On the day of the Ngaben Ceremony, these bones will be burned again in accordance with the Ngaben Ceremony.
That was a row of processions from the Ngagah ceremony that is often found in Bali. Have you ever had the chance to see it live?
Disclaimer: This article has been published on the IDNTimes.com page with the title “11 Portraits of Ngagah Tradition, Procession of Digging Graves in Bali” written by Ari Budiadnyana
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